Ukraine Update: After Odyssey, Ukrainian Family Reaches Safety

UPDATE: March 7, 2022

Scenes of Ukrainian refugee coordination [TWR Image] 

The war clouds still darken the skies over Ukraine, but fragments of joyful news frequently emerge from the shadows.

One of these bright spots involves a family whose journey to safety we’ve been following since soon after the war erupted on Feb. 24. For security reasons, we aren’t able to give you his name, but the father is a member or TWR’s ministry partner in Ukraine. From the area around Kharkiv, he began driving his family – which includes a special-needs child and a mother in fragile health – toward the western border. Although the distance is a little more than 600 miles as the crow files, it took more than a week for the family to reach safety outside the war-torn country.

Sunday, the six members of the family finally crossed into a European country adjacent to Ukraine and were warmly received by TWR staff.

“They arrived in a temporary place today while we look for longer-term options,” said Frank Stephenson, communications director for TWR Europe. “They are thankful to have arrived after an odyssey of eight days and a broken car. They are also grateful for the friendly welcome.”

There’s also great news regarding our media outreach to the war zone. Beginning today, March 7, TWR is reactivating its programming on a powerful, strategically located transmitter in Eastern Europe. This means we will be able to boost our broadcasts in Ukrainian and Russian to reach listeners in those nations and in neighboring Belarus, where Russian is also widely spoken.

Striving to be nimble to overcome whatever barriers develop because of the war, TWR is “continually working in the background to set up alternative options to keep broadcasting programs of hope,” Stephenson said.

A chat with our European colleague

In the United States for meetings this week, Stephenson sat down with TWR President Lauren Libby to discuss the war in Eastern Europe. We invite you to take about three minutes to view the video below.

Will you join us in prayer?

• Please pray for the family of six who have finally emerged from the war zone. We thank God for bringing them safely through incredibly challenging circumstances, and now they will need time and healing to decompress and process those harrowing experiences.
• Praise the Lord that TWR has access to highly sophisticated broadcasting technology in areas that can reach the war zone but not be immediately knocked out of service. Through his provision, including the generous contributions and prayers of our supporters over many decades, these “towers to eternity” enable us to share God’s Word with people in hard-to-reach places.
• Ask the Lord to bring peace, fortitude and encouragement into the hearts of believers in Ukraine who daily face life-threatening conditions but continue to share Christ with their countrymen. More than ever, Ukrainians need hope and assurance in their lives